


wish i could be part of your world

by crossroadswrite



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Merfolk, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Is Known, M/M, Merman Stiles Stilinski, Soulmates, Still Werewolves, Unlawful Use of Disney Songs and Quotes, unnecessary made up lore tbh, use of ASL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 13:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6857659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossroadswrite/pseuds/crossroadswrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do they really, really, really have mermaids?” Katie gushes, clutching at her dad’s hair from her place on his shoulders and tugging with excitement.</p>
<p>“Merfolk,” Derek corrects distractedly, reading over the little brochure they gave them at the entrance.</p>
<p>  <em>Don’t feed the wildlife.</em><br/>  <em>Don’t tap on the glass.</em><br/>  <em>Don’t throw anything in the water.</em><br/>  <em>Don’t engage with the merfolk, only do so when a member of the staff is present as to not incite conflict with our guests.</em></p>
<p>Derek wonders what it’ll be like, seeing merfolk for the first time. They’re such an interesting culture with so little of its history discovered.</p>
<p>He wonders-</p>
            </blockquote>





	wish i could be part of your world

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Emela](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emela/gifts).



> For my lovely Emma, the most adorable lil' mermaid who deserves all the nice things and Emma I am SO SORRY this took so long and I'm sorry if it disappoints you but I _tried_ and mermaids are unexpectedly hard to write about yikes.
> 
> And of course a HUGE THANK YOU for my lovely, most adorable beta [LadyDrace](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDrace/pseuds/LadyDrace), my darlingest Minna, she's so good y'all should check her out (she writes A+++ porn y'all. A+++ porn and EVERYTHING ELSE TOO).
> 
> Title taken from "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid soundtrack because Emma asked and I can't say no to Emma.
> 
> Enjoy this clusterfuck of supernatural boys in love *throws glittery mermaid tail colored confetti*

Family trips are always a bit of an affair with the Hales.

It’s hard for them not to be, when there’s just _so many_ Hales, and throwing in the fact that ninety percent of the family are werewolves just makes it harder.

They need to call the local packs ahead of time, arrange for a hotel with enough rooms to accommodate all of them, preferably close together, and figure out a full schedule so the younger ones don’t get bored and decide start tearing the place apart.

There’s so much organization and detailed planning going into it that it sends Derek’s head spinning.

He’s dreading the days in the not-so-distant future when he’ll be the one in charge of it all.

For now his Aunt Emily and his Aunt Olivia are in charge, and it’s guaranteed that as soon as those two grab their planners and overpriced pens you better leave them alone with their brainstorming and Pinterest binges if you don’t want to be faced with the patented Annoyed Mom Look.

Which in and of itself is pretty amazing since Aunt Olivia doesn’t _actually_ have any children of her own yet.

It always pays off, though.

They always find amazing venues with the _coolest_ things that even the little ones can enjoy and well, it’s _fun_.

It’s time spent away from home but still in the comfort of pack.

“You excited, little bro?” Laura asks, throwing an arm over his shoulder and leaning all of her weight on him as if Derek wasn’t already carrying about sixty kilos worth of luggage, some of it _Laura’s_.

His sister is a dick like that.

“For the vacation? Yes. To share a room with you? Nope,” he says, shrugging her off and hiking up Jamie’s baby bag over his shoulder, his littlest sister waddling a little ahead of him, dragging the way-too-big stuffed giraffe behind her.

“Why so rude?” Laura asks, touching her chest dramatically.

“Why so ugly?”

Laura cuffs him upside the head for that one.

“Oooooohhhh, Derek is being _mean_ ,” Cora tattles, tugging on Mom’s sleeve and pointing a skinny accusing finger at Derek’s nose.

“Laura hit me,” he defends.

“He called me _ugly_.”

“Kids, please,” Talia says, steering Jamie away from the shiny fountain in the middle of the lobby and towards the elevator.

Derek hopes it’s big enough to fit all of them, he does not want to be stuck downstairs with Laura, waiting for the next one.

“Be nice to each other,” their father advises, pressing the elevator button.

“Head count,” Aunt Olivia calls out, stepping back from the group and whipping out her notebook.

Laura reaches for Cora and holds her up and Derek looks over at Jamie to check if Mom got her. The littlest ones have to be held up so Aunt ‘Livia can see them as she does her headcounts.

They really don’t want to repeat the incident of ’05. Laura still bitches about it as if when they found her she didn’t have a bag as big as her head full of candy a kind lady had given her.

“Alright everyone.” Aunt Olivia smiles her _I’m so happy no one was left at the airport again_ smile. “We’re all on the same floor. Ya’ll have one hour to get situated and then we’re going to have dinner,” she announces.

“Don’t be late, we’ll meet up down here,” Aunt Emily says just as the doors of the elevator ding open.

«»

Derek wakes up gasping for breath and with pain in his chest, feeling like an elephant is standing on his ribcage.

“Laura get off me, you fuck!” he shouts, throwing her on the floor as his older sister cackles. “I hate you,” he spits, rubbing circles over his chest. “Stop trying to murder me in my sleep.”

“Oh come on, Der. I’m not that heavy. ‘Wolf up!”

“Fuck you.”

He gets an eye roll and a pillow thrown in his face for that one.

“Aunt ‘livia wants to go _do things_. We’re supposed to meet her at the breakfast bar.”

Derek grumbles and considers turning on his stomach and just going back to sleep, but he really doesn’t want to face Aunt Olivia’s wrath. It’s the worst kind of wrath because she’s never mad, she’s always _disappointed_.

You always feel like you failed at life when you disappoint Aunt Olivia.

“Ugh, _fine_. Did you really have to sit on me to wake me up? You know calling my name would’ve worked, right?”

“I tried that. You wouldn’t wake up and I didn’t feel like going all the way to the bathroom to get a glass of water to throw in your face so.”

Derek throws a pillow at her face, which she catches expertly with a smug grin. The second pillow he throws smacks her right in the nose, and Derek makes sure to vault off the bed and hide in the bathroom before she can retribute.

«»

The breakfast bar has a truly ridiculous selection of food. There are _cooks_ behind some counters making food per request.

He’s not sure if they are dishing out this much money just for the hell of it or maybe if it’s because Uncle Michael and Aunt Emily are celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary. Probably the latter, which means that at some point the kids will be dumped on them so Derek’s uncle and aunt can go do _adult things_ together.

Derek’s just happy his room is the farthest from theirs.

“Can you get some bagels for me?” Cora asks, pointing at the farthest part of the table, closest to the wall, which she can’t quite reach.

Derek would coo at her for it, how adorable his little sister is with her pigtails and her missing tooth not being able to reach things because she’s too tiny still, but he knows if he does anything of the sort he will be sucker punched in the stomach.

He dutifully puts some on her plate and gets a distracted _thanks_ before Cora makes a beeline for the cereal and proceeds to mix as many as she can in one single bowl and drown it with milk.

Laura comes around, chatting with Sam and bumping Derek’s shoulder amiably.

“Hey, you should talk with the cute guy sitting in the corner.”

Derek looks over and twists his nose.

“Not my type.”

“No. He’s exactly _my_ type. You should go over and make small talk so _I_ can know if he’s single or not.”

Derek sighs and pouts. “Why can’t you ask Sam to do it?” he asks, throwing a look at their cousin. “It’s not like she can’t do it.”

“I have no time for boys,” Sam shrugs one shoulder, piling up muffins on her plate.

“Well, I’m not doing it,” Derek huffs.

“Why not?”

“It’s a summer vacation Laur, not a booty call vacation. You know Aunt ‘liv will be mad if we go off schedule.” Derek throws another look at the guy. “Besides there’s a girl sitting next to him. There, you have your answer.”

Sam perks up, looking over. “She looks like his twin.”

“She’s cute,” Laura remarks.

“She _is_ cute. Okay, this has just become my business. Come on Laurs, we got twins to bang- I mean bag.”

“No you don’t,” Laura snickers.

Derek looks heavenwards and prays for strength.

He would _never_ go off and flirt during family vacation.

«»

After breakfast Aunt Olivia and Aunt Emily usher all over them towards the aquarium.

“Do they really, really, _really_ have mermaids?” Katie gushes, clutching at her dad’s hair from her place on his shoulders and tugging with excitement.

“Merfolk,” Derek corrects distractedly, reading over the little brochure they gave them at the entrance.

_Don’t feed the wildlife._

_Don’t tap on the glass._

_Don’t throw anything in the water._

_Don’t engage with the merfolk, only do so when a member of the staff is present as to not incite conflict with our guests._

Derek wonders what it’ll be like, seeing merfolk for the first time. They’re such an _interesting_ culture with so little of its history discovered.

He wonders-

“Derek, honey, can you get your cousin?” Aunt Emily calls out pointing at the floor where Tom decided it was the perfect time and place for a nap.

Derek goes over and lifts him up on his hip, wincing when he starts whining about being _tired_ even though he got a full night’s sleep and didn’t do anything but stuff his little adorable face.

This is what happens when you baby the little human kids in the pack, they become spoiled little brats.

Tom rubs his cheek all over Derek’s neck, one hand absentmindedly playing with the hairs in the back of his neck and Derek decides he doesn’t mind that much having to carry his little spoilt cousin around.

«»

Derek has never actually seen a merperson.

Sure, he’s looked for videos and seen posters and dropped his mouth in awe when they appear on television briefly, sometimes in documentaries, sometimes in news reports, sometimes in trashy little romcoms that depict a clearly CGI landfolk, losing their tail and walking into the waiting arms of their soulmate, conquering the ability of _walking_ through the power of love or whatever.

(Derek totally eats those romcoms up like breakfast cereal, and he will shamefully admit that he has even cried to them a couple of times.)

So, he’s not quite sure what to expect when they walk through the open double doors of the aquarium’s tunnel.

He’s struck by the beauty of it first.

The place is a little dark with lights pointed at the reinforced glass surrounding them, highlighting numerous schools of fish swimming about, the coral reefs in the ocean floor.

It looks a little ethereal, to him. Like something taken straight from a parallel dimension, from the unknown depths of space, or something.

Katie squeals and runs face first into the glass, pressing her forehead to it and bugging her eyes at the brightly colored fish that swim by. Katie is kind of a nerd for the ocean, or at least she’s going through a phase where she is. Two months ago she wanted to go to the moon and do a headstand.

Tom starts wiggling and kicks Derek in the thigh until he puts him on the floor, just before he makes a dash to join his twin sister next to the glass to look at the fish.

“Close your mouth or you’ll let flies in,” Aunt Alexis grins, tapping two fingers on Derek’s chin and making his teeth clack together, one arm possessively around Aunt Olivia’s waist as she steers her wife through the aquarium.

He glares at her and turns to join Tom and Katie by the big glass under the pretense that he’s going over to watch out for them, when really he just wants to get a closer look at the fish because _whoa_.

A shark swims by passively and Derek can’t really resistreaching out and touching the glass, faintly registering Tom squealing and gripping his cargo shorts.

“I want to pet it,” Katie decides.

“I don’t think you can pet it,” Derek says

“Why not?”

“It’s underwater.”

“I can be underwater.”

“Not without a snorkeling mask.”

“I can hold my breath for really long,” she argues, pouting. “Like this, look.”

Katie takes in a gulp of air and holds it, glaring at him. She last all of thirty seconds before she huffs the air out and starts panting.

Derek raises an eyebrow at her and she pouts harder.

He’s still having a stare off with his cousin when sudden movement on his peripheral vision jerks his attention upwards just in time to see a splash of orange chasing after a splash of yellow.

Derek’s eyes widen with realization, his mouth dropping open and Katie must’ve seen it too because she squeals, loud enough to grate on everyone’s ears and starts running, chasing the merpeople along the aquarium’s wall.

Derek curses under his breath and picks Tom up under his arm, knowing his cousin won’t be able to keep up with his werewolf speed.

He chases her through the aquarium’s tunnel and past the double doors that head outside.

Derek has to stop and blink against the sudden brightness, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes from the harsh sun and trying to find his little cousin- who is trying to climb the side of the aquarium to get to the rim of it because _of course she is_.

Derek growls, low in his throat and stomps over to her, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and putting her securely on the floor.

He’s just about to give her an _epic_ scolding when something wet lands on his face and he jerks to a stop, finger raised and mouth half open.

Derek very slowly reaches up and peels the piece of fabric off his face, letting it dangle from one finger, frowning at the brightly colored bikini top.

He looks over to his right, where he thinks the offending piece of fabric came from and sees a merperson and she’s beautiful with her tail in glittering ombré shades of yellow and flowing blond hair, her hands crossed over her chest, face turned away as someone with a blue shirt with STAFF written on it is trying to catch her attention.

“What,” he says flatly, blinking at the scene in front of him.

There’s a very soft gasp and Katie clutches at his sleeve, pointing up with awe in her eyes. “Derek,” she whispers

He looks up and there’s boy.

Well, not a boy- a _merperson_ , his tail in bright orange that slowly fades to almost red at the tips of the fin and over it, he’s got creamy pale skin dotted here and there with moles.

He blinks at Derek and gives him a grin that’s full of sharp teeth as he leans over the rim of the aquarium.

Derek’s breath might or might not stutter in his chest.

Merboy makes this sort of chirping sound in the back of his throat that Derek has never heard before and has no basis of comparison for. If he absolutely _had_ to compare it to anything it’d be how dolphins communicate and even then it would be a poor description of the sound.

“Um?” he frowns.

Merboy points at the bikini top and crooks a finger.

Derek looks at it for a minute before he decides throwing it at merboy is the best course of action.

Merboy catches it on sharp claws and grins down at him, bringing the tips of the finger of his open palm to his chin and then bringing it forward in a “thank you”.

Derek clumsily signs a “you’re welcome” back and gets this surprised look, this sparkle on merboy’s whiskey eyes that steals his breath all over again.

“Stiles,” he hears one of the staff members call out and merboy snaps his head towards the sound, squinting at what the staff person is signing and then holding up the bikini top as evidence of something.

_Stiles_ dips back underwater and swims towards the blonde mergirl, circling her twice and making her twists around to try and keep track of him before he raises up to her level and thrusts the bikini top at her face.

Mergirl seems to huff making a little sequence of those strange sounds that are obviously how they talk, turning her nose up at him.

Stiles presses his lips together, chirps something back that seems to have mergirl considering, before a grin spreads across her face and she gives a little affirmative chirp.

Stiles goes around and helps her tie the bikini top over her breasts before she starts pushing him to the surface and poking him on the stomach until he contrarily signs something to the staff members, who look confusedly between each other before one of them goes to the little storage area tucked away in the corner and comes back with another bikini top, throwing it at Stiles.

The mergirl chirps happily and helps him put it on, seeming to cackle as Stiles pouts.

Both of the merfolk dip back down underwater and start swimming lazily around each other in an intricate dance that has them swirling and twisting.

“Well,” Derek says slowly, a little star struck at the merfolk in front of him, who seem to be _bantering_ through the intricate moves of their tails.

“Sorry about that, Stiles and Erica are still trying to adjust to being around us puny landfolk.”

Derek looks over to the source of the voice, seeing a tall girl with oddly bright red hair and a shirt with STAFF emblazoned on it.

“What was that about?”

The girl grins and shrugs a shoulder. “Erica doesn’t understand why she has to cover her nipples but Stiles doesn’t. We tried to explain it to her but she thinks it’s stupid, which, well, _it is_ but what can you do?” she shrugs. “I’m Kat, by the way.”

“Derek,” he introduces himself distractedly. “And these are Tom and Katie.”

Derek glances over to the aquarium where Stiles and Erica seem to be playing a fast and oddly graceful game of tag.

“Let me guess, she figured because _she_ has to wear it so does he?”

Kat nods. “Yeah. They’re my favorite so far. The other day Stiles and Erica managed to create a wave with their tales that got this one asshole _drenched_. It was hilarious.”

Derek snorts.

“And I’ve never seen merfolk take so fast to ASL. It was pretty amazing getting a couple of geniuses to show off. I think after doing their time here they bring back the ASL to their clans. It might have become a _thing_ , but no one will know until a merperson volunteers the info and getting info out of a merperson is like trying to pull a scale out off a dragon.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Kat stops for a couple of minutes, letting the full impact of that one little tidbit of information sink it. “Anyway I was actually going to tell you that you can’t be here. I was sent to kick your adorably little butts back to the non-restricted area.”

Derek blushes, grabbing his cousins by the hand and the back of the neck neck (this time it was Tom slowly inching his way to try and climb the side of the aquarium and _seriously_ what is up with these kids and climbing?) and starting to heard them back from where they had come from.

“Sorry about that. We really didn’t mean to.”

Kat gives them a grin and waves goodbye. “It’s cool. You _should_ come by for the afternoon show though, Stiles would appreciate it.”

Derek startles a little bit, feeling the tips of his ears heat up because _Stiles?_

“Um,” he stutters out. “I don’t- I mean, uh-“

“Don’t sweat it buttercup, he’s been showing off the entire time you’ve been here. So you should definitely come to the afternoon show. I need volunteers to get in the water and better someone they are at least acquainted it for a first time than just throw some random stranger that might freak the hell out at it, ya know.”

Derek nods dumbly, stumbles a little over his own feet because _getting in the water_ . With merpeople. With _gorgeous_ merpeople.

_Ohgod_.

“I’ll, uh, think about it?”

Kat nods and waves him goodbye, waiting for him to go through the double doors with this amused little smile quirking his lips like Derek’s the most amusing thing she’s seen in a while.

As soon as the double doors close with a thud of finality behind them Derek takes a moment to breathe because just _what the fuck_. What the fuck just happened here?

“Cousie Dee,” Tom pulls on his shirt and then decides to start climbing him like Derek is his personal jungle gym so he can hang off Derek’s back and poke him in the ear until he pays attention.

“What?”

“Are you gonna kiss that boy back there?”

“What!?”

“Yes!” Katie cheers. “And then we can all go to mermaidland and pet all the dolphins!”

“What?”

“I can’t wait to tell momma! Momma loves dolphins!” Katie enthuses getting a hold of Derek’s hand, pulling him after her as she sniffs out her parents.

“What,” Derek repeats, seemingly having been reduced to monosyllables.

“There, there, Cousie Dee,” Tom pats his hair. “When I build my rocket ship we can both run away to Mars and hide from Katie and her _girly things_.”

Derek sighs as loudly as he can manage, just to let the universe know he is very overwhelmed and very _done_ with his cousins right now.

«»

As soon as Derek and his family go through the double doors that lead to the outside of the aquarium where the show is going to happen, there’s two staff members on them, ushering them towards the front and making sure Derek sits somewhere he can easily stand up from.

Kat is walking on the rim of the aquarium, effortlessly balancing as she bounces around and talks into a mic, working the crowd up.

“I can’t believe you seduced a mermaid into giving us front seats,” Laura grins, elbowing Derek on the ribs playfully.

“Mer _boy_ ,” he mutters. “And it was an accident.”

“Your life is hilarious, I’m so happy I have front row seats for it.”

“Shut up.”

“Ladies, gentleman and beings of other persuasions,” Kat’s voice booms out. “Welcome to the afternoon show. I hope you’re all excited because today we are going to have a very special performance! Introducing our two new acrobats, straight from the mysterious depths of the Pacific, it’s our pleasure to introduce Erica and Stiles!” she exclaims, throwing an arm out just as two forms break the surface, flying high in a jump and higfiving midair before they fall back into the water gracefully. “So hold onto your seats because our young acrobats are here to impress and it’s going to be quite a _show!”_

Something upbeat and pop-y starts playing through the speakers as Kat drops her microphone into the waiting hands of someone else from the staff, whips her shirt off, revealing a cat patterned biking, and backflips into the water.

The water show is _breathtaking_.

Stiles and Erica do flips and swim artfully around each other, jump through several things, pull several members of the staff into the water and get random passersby wet with harsh slaps of their tails that create waves.

They interact with the staff members in quick little comedic routines that somehow always end up with a staff member soaked through or getting slapped with a fish.

At some point they dim the lights in the tank, making it go pitch black, so the only thing you can see is the faint glitter of Erica and Stiles’ tails making shapes in the water.

Everyone in the audience oohs and aahs and laughs at the right moments, completely riveted by the performance presented to them.

It’s ten minutes before the show is scheduled to be over when Kat climbs back on the rim of the aquarium, balancing easily on the balls of her feet.

“And now it’s time for a _very special_ feature of our show where we will let one of the lucky people in the audience swim around with our acrobats!”

There’s a collective gasp of shock. Merfolk swimming along with people is pratically unheard of, unless they’re trained professionals, everyone still has the incidents during the last Great War in their minds, where ocean beings sunk ships and made pacts with different countries, sabotaging submarines and whatnot.

“That’s right, for the _very first time_ we will let one of you have the chance to swim with our lovely artists.”

A bunch of hands shoot up, people clamoring for the opportunity.

“ _And_ we’re going to let our guests,” she points to Stiles and Erica who are perched on the rim of the aquarium, watching the crowd intently. “Choose! So you better pucker up and look pretty for the opportunity to swim around with one of the least known about species!”

The crowd gets loud, waving arms to catch attention and generally trying to be flashy.

Derek stays quiet, gaze locked with Stiles’, who is beaming down at him, a row of sharp teeth on full display as Derek feels his cheeks color and the overwhelming need to duck away from such a heated stare.

Slowly and surely, Stiles unfolds his arms from where they were crossed for support on the rim of the aquarium and calmly raises one of them up, pointing on clawed finger at Derek.

“And it seems we have a winner!” Kat cheers. “Someone get that boy up here.”

Derek blinks dazedly as a petite girl with an oversized staff shirt comes into his line of sight, finally breaking away from the staring contest he had been having with Stiles.

“Hey, I’m Celeste. If you would please follow me.”

Derek nods and gets up, absentmindedly patting his younger sister on the head and giving her the stuffed giraffe she had entrusted him.

“ _Get it little brother_ ,” Laura cheers, and he takes a moment to turn and glare at her as he follows Celeste up the stairs on the side of the aquarium that lead up to a small stage.

Kat dances her way across the rim of the aquarium and over to him, leaning down so Derek can speak into the microphone.

“And what’s your name?”

“Um. Derek Hale.”

“Oh, Derek _Hale_ . Looks like our lucky winner is _werewolf royalty_! How exciting.”

Derek ducks his head, embarrassed as he always is when someone mentions his family name and its implications.

“But we’re not here to talk about _that_. We’re here to offer you the opportunity of swimming with our very own-“

A wave of water splashes Kat, making her dramatized excitement come to a halt.

She turns and glares at Stiles who’s looking around innocently.

“Yeesh, alright, someone is eager.  Without further ado, our very special audience member inclusive routine!” she announces.

Celeste approaches him again. “Are you okay going in the water with those clothes? Do you have anything valuable in your pockets?”

Derek shakes his head. “Nothing valuable. These are my swimming shorts.”

“Awesome,” Celeste breathes out, relieved. “You don’t really have to do anything, you’ll get in the water, hold their hands and they’ll pull you around for a little bit,” she tells him, trying to speak fast under the Kat’s booming voice, still egging the audience on as Celeste gives him a run-down of what’s going to happen.

“Okay.”

“If you feel uncomfortable at any moment press this button,” she says, hanging a lanyard around his neck with what looks like one of those automatic garage keys hanging from it. “Do you understand?”

Derek nods.

Celeste smiles nicely at him and pats his shoulder. “Also if anything happens to you, you can’t sue the aquarium, we take no responsibilities for any possible injuries; in accepting this opportunity you have waivered your possibilities of sueing the aquarium, please have fun!”

“Wait, wha-“

Celeste pushes him towards Kat who immediately throws an arm over his shoulders and leads him towards the aquarium.

Stiles and Erica are swimming around each other, Stiles seemingly fidgety and Erica poking him whenever she gets close enough making this little clicking noise in the back of her throat that Derek could only compare to cooing.

“Are you excited to do what no common ‘wolf has done before?” Kat enthuses.

Derek looks down at Stiles who’s edging closer to the rim, wiggling his tail hard enough he manages to stand mostly above water.

“Sure,” Derek answers distractedly because _wow_.

He thinks he could spend his entire life watching Stiles swim around and he would never get tired of it.

“Awesome! Want to take your shirt off, wolfboy?”

Derek glances over at the crowd and shakes his head. “Not really.”

Kat laughs heartily, makes some quip to the crowd that Derek only half hears.

“Sit at the edge, nice and easy. And then just enjoy the ride, Stiles and Erica will take good care of you, hon.”

Derek nods and edges forward, slowly sitting down, still transfixed by how Stiles’ tail catches the light of the sun and glitters.

“Hi,” Derek signs quickly because his momma raised him right.

Stiles beams at him. “Hey, cutie,” Stiles signs back and Derek ducks his head, feeling the tips of his ears turn red and hating himself for it.

He looks so stupid when he blushes.

There’s a soft noise that catches his attention and he lifts his head just in time to catch Stiles and Erica signing in little aborted moves to one of the staff members and Derek realizes they’re trying to be fast so the crowd doesn’t catch up what they’re doing.

The staff member finally nods, though they don’t look overly happy to do it and Stiles cheers. Or does the merfolk version of cheering.

Erica turns to him and signs, “Don’t worry about a thing. Stiles would drown me if anything happened to you,” she smirks.

Stiles dunks her underwater and moves towards Derek, holding out a hand.

Derek carefully takes it, watches Stiles wrapped his clawed fingers around his palm carefully, tugging ever so slightly until Derek jumps in the water, kicking his feet to keep himself above the surface.

Erica emerges and calls to his attention. “Hold your breath,” she signs and Derek nods, breathes deeply a couple of times to get as much air into his lungs as he possibly can and then holds it there.

Erica takes his other hand, a little less carefully than Stiles had, and they both pull him down.

He doesn’t know if he can really describe what it feels like.

Like swimming underwater while holding hands but not. More like when you’re small and your parents pull you through the water as you first learn how to swim, except a little faster, a little more exhilarating.

Erica doesn’t hold his hand for long, letting go as soon as they’re in the middle of the aquarium and starts swimming around them, making wide circles around them spinning and twisting.

A song Derek faintly recognizes starts playing, muffled by the water as Stiles twists and starts swimming underneath Derek, parallel to him. He reaches for Derek’s other hand and slowly starts spinning them in a lazy circle, around and around as they swim forward and Derek is transfixed.

Derek’s a creature of the night. A lot of his genetics, a lot of what makes his shift work and the werewolf hierarchy system work is based on _magic_. It’s pretty safe to say that Derek is a magical being, but still-

Still, somehow, he has no other words to describe this moment other than magical.

He blinks down at this merboy, who’s smiling at him in something akin to wonder as they twist around each other, Stiles leading him by the hand. It’s enough for Derek to sigh out in awe. And then quickly realize he’s underwater and that was precious air he just wasted.

Stiles seems to be one step ahead though, pulling him quickly to the surface so Derek can breathe again.

Derek gasps a little, gulps in air greedily as the crowd seems to be cheering. He has no idea why they would be, he hasn’t done anything and compared to what Erica and Stiles did earlier this seems pretty tame.

Stiles makes this little interrogative sound in the back of his throat and Derek gives him a thumbs up, hopes that he understands that he’s okay, and then for good measure signs a _thank you_.

That’s when he realizes why the song playing sounded familiar. He knows it by heart and could even possibly sing it backwards.

The final notes of A Whole New World from Aladdin hang in the air as Derek stands there, ignoring the noise of the crowd and of Kat trying to be heard above the crowd, completely lost in the whiskey of Stiles’ eyes.

«»

“What was that?” Laura questions, punching him in the shoulder and grinning so widely Derek thinks her cheeks ought to be hurting.

“What was what?” Derek asks, still panting a little bit, wet hair dripping on the cement floor as his family makes their way through the crowd to get to him. Of course Laura would’ve managed to get here first.

“The _heart eyes_. It was disgusting, like something out of one of those trashy romance novellas you keep stashed under your bed.”

Derek blushes so hard it spreads to his cheeks instead of just being contained to his ears. He can feel it crawling all the way down his neck.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Laura cackles with glee. “You totally like the merboy.”

“Shut up, Laura,” Derek huffs, sneaking a quick glance at the aquarium where Stiles seems to be having a conversation with one of the staff, signing rapidly and frowning.

“Does he like you back? Are you going to elope to Atlantida and have his weird hybrid babies?”

Derek pushes her away and starts walking towards their family. He’d much rather be mobbed than this.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Atlantida is a myth.”

“You didn’t deny the eloping part!” she yells after him, voice still filled with glee.

_Ugh, older sisters._

Derek doesn’t have time to counter before his family is suddenly around him, bombarding him with a thousand questions, his cousin Katie clutching at his arm and jumping up and down and his mom touching his face and hair repeatedly as if she needs to assure herself he’s okay.

Derek glances over his shoulder to frown at Laura, catches movement in the corner of his eyes and turns to see Stiles swimming close to the glass staring at him. When he sees Derek looking he waves and signs, “See you later, cutie,” before swimming away through a hatch at the back of the aquarium and disappearing.

Derek sighs wonderingly after him before his family tugs his attention back to them, all talking at the same time and making it hard for him to understand anyone as it usually happens when they’re all really excited about something.

Derek settles for trying to understand as many of them as he can and answer accordingly and to try and not look over his shoulder at the aquarium.

He fails spectacularly at the last one, which of course, catches his family’s attention and suddenly they’re all grinning knowingly at him, making quick little remarks. Derek sighs and accepts his fate of teasing for the foreseeable future.

«»

Derek doesn’t know a whole lot about merfolk besides what the media tells him, which, in retrospect, is a gross oversight on his part, especially now when knowing more is an imperative.

That’s why he’s trying to sneak into his aunt Emily’s room so he can steal her laptop, since she needed it for work reasons and no one else was allowed to bring theirs.

“What are you doing?” a familiar voice asks.

Derek freezes and turns around slowly, ducking his head when he’s faced with Aunt Olivia’s disapproving face.

“Nothing,” he mumbles as convincingly as he did when he was three and she had caught him with his hand in the honey jar.

“Derek Samuel Hale, why in the world are you trying to sneak into your aunt’s room?”

Derek scuffs his shoe on the hotel carpet.

“I needed her laptop.”

“For what?”

“Researching merfolk.”

“Oh, honey,” his aunt coos. “You should’ve told me. Come with me, I’ve got just what you need.”

And that’s how Derek finds himself standing in the middle of his aunt Olivia’s room with a pile of books and research about merfolk in his arms.

“I brought this along for a bit of light reading. You know Alexis gets bored on long car rides.”

Derek looks down at the books and research that pile up from his sternum to his chin.

“Light reading. Right.”

Aunt Olivia ruffles his hair and sends him on his way, telling him not to go to bed late since they’re going to the beach bright and early tomorrow morning.

«»

Derek doesn’t go to bed early.

By five am he’s finished three research papers and is one third into one of the books, blessing the fact that he’s a speed reader and that somehow his brain is managing to retain all this information being shoved at him.

Like for example, those things shown on TV are actually true and merfolk _can_ grow legs if their mate is a landfolk. He’s also learned that apparently they can sing or more like _hum_ , and supposedly there’s this one song, like a mating howl, that attracts their mate if they are within hearing shot.

Besides the basics of biology, which Derek very carefully tries not to think about how those research scientists all those years ago acquired, there’s not actually a lot known about merfolk. They’re as secretive as a creature can be.

Many theorize they actually study landfolk and bring their research back to their clans, and that’s why it seems to be easier and easier to teach sign language to the merfolk roped into working with them.

Everyone seems to be torn on weather the merfolk that _do_ collaborate with them, especially in things like aquatic shows do it for research or if it’s actually a sort of punishment for a very specific type of crime they’ve committed, like they’re doing community service by entertaining the masses.

Either way, there’s almost no accounts of merfolk interacting for more than six months with landfolk, and a lot of those instances the landfolk are actually stationed in the middle of the ocean.

The only cases of merfolk keeping close to shore are the ones that find mates on land and that is _rare_. Beyond rare even. It’s like an exception to every rule of nature, which just blows Derek’s mind a little bit, seeing how ‘wolves finding human mates isn’t that weird, or even mates in other kinds of shifters or supernaturals, but merfolk pretty much keep to the sea.

Laura wakes up at six thirty and stares sleepily at him from across the room. “Have you been reading all night?” She yawns, scrubbing one hand over her eyes and squinting at him.

“Did you know merfolk weren’t known until two thousand years ago? How crazy is that? Everyone thought they were a myth! Two thousand years ago is _nothing_.”

Laura groans and attempts to suffocate herself with her pillow.

Derek shrugs and flips the page.

«»

Derek falls asleep on his beach towel about five seconds after he lays down in it, which surprised absolutely no one after they had caught him still clutching a book and pinching his own thigh to stay awake.

And because he falls asleep surrounded by pack, he wakes up surrounded by pack and sand.

He looks around grumpily, searching for the source of what woke him up and realizing it was singing.

Derek yawns, scrubs a hand over his face quickly and perks his ears up to try and pinpoint where exactly the singing comes from.

He’s a pretty heavy sleeper, especially when he’s surrounded by his pack like this. That said it’s pretty weird for something like _singing_ to wake him when there’s loud children screeching around him.

“Can you hear that?” he asks to no one in particular, turning his head a little to the left and towards the ocean, where the singing seems to be coming from.

“Hear what? The couple five towels away pretending they’re not getting each other off in their tent or the guy with the parrot two towels down that’s cursing at children?” Aunt Alexis asks.

“What- _no_. Someone’s singing. Can you hear that?”

The family members around him, which are basically his aunts and uncles seeing that his cousins and sisters are all frolicking in the ocean waters, perk up their ears too, going quiet for a moment to try to catch what Derek’s referring to.

“I don’t hear anything,” his mother declares and the others make agreeing noises.

Derek frowns at himself and gets up, digs his legs out of the mound of sand his family buried him in and starts walking.

“I think I’m gonna check it out,” he throws over his back, distracted.

“Howl if you need us!”

Derek makes a vague sound of assent and trudges towards the sound, tilting his head slightly as if that is going to make him hear better.

Whatever song it is, it’s absolutely breathtaking, each note resonating in Derek’s bones like a caress, like everything that’s perfect in this world.

He has one minute to worry about a possible siren before he dismisses it. Everyone knows sirens have long moved on from drowning unsuspecting men and started making it big in Hollywood.

Derek walks along the water, getting further from his pack than he would like but it seems he can’t quite help himself, his feet moving as if he’s being pulled by an invisible force.

Maybe he is, but he feels like it’s absolutely fundamental for him to find the source of that voice.

He reaches a part of the beach with less people, where it’s more rocks than sand, just before the beach stops abruptly to give way to a great cliff.

This is where the voice is at its strongest and Derek looks around, squints against the sun until he catches a faint silhouette a couple miles from shore, leaning on a rock and staring intently back at him.

“Stiles?”

The singing cuts off and Stiles waves at him, dipping back underwater, making a straight line towards Derek.

Derek can’t really do anything but start walking towards him, meeting him halfway so Stiles doesn’t have to be in shallow waters.

He’s chest deep in ocean water when something smooth slides against his legs, the water disrupted by the creature swimming circles around Derek. Stiles pops suddenly in front of him with a little sound that if Derek had to compare to anything would be _boo!_

Stiles grins at him, all sharp teeth, pale mole-dotted skin and _ethereal._

“Hi,” Derek says lamely, breathlessly, before he remembers himself and signs it.

“You heard me,” Stiles signs, hands trembling finely with excitement.

“Was I not supposed to?” Derek signs back, frowning.

“I was hoping you would. I _thought_ you would, but-“

That’s when it hits him like a wolfsbane packed punch.

Stiles was singing for him.

Stiles was _singing_ for _him_. And he heard it.

“Me?” Derek blurts out, signing it a beat later, completely disbelieving.

“You,” Stiles signs back, a big smile stretching across his face, dipping a little underwater before he can bring himself back up to Derek’s eye level, as if he’s too excited to not wiggle around a little bit, tail disturbing the water around Derek’s legs.

He’s tempted to reach out and grab Stiles by the hips, secure him, pull him a little closer. But he’s not sure how welcome his touch would be, so he refrains.

“Are you sure?” Derek signs haphazardly.

Stiles nods, and then frowns for a minute, features going pensive. “Shouldn’t you be able to tell if I’m yours?” he asks

Derek blushes, wiggles his toes in the sand. “I can’t do it without shifting,” he signs nervously.

Derek never really shifted around anyone who wasn’t family. It’s kind of a private thing. ‘Wolves don’t just shift for everyone.

Stiles’ face brightens.

“Let me see,” he begs, throat making a little clicking sound of excitement as he swims a little closer.

Derek bites his lip and looks down.

There’s no denying Stiles has pull with him, since all it took was one look and Derek was completely and irrevocably smitten, but Derek can’t be sure about mates.

He’d need to shift for that, since his senses aren’t completely developed yet.

He bites his lip, furrows his eyebrow and lets the beta shift ripple through his features, wondering a second too late _what if Stiles thinks he’s hideous like this_?

Derek looks up and Stiles makes a sound that he could only be compared to a squeal, dashing forward until their noses almost bump, eyes tripping over Derek’s features and clawed hands coming to join, the soft cold pads of his fingers running through the ridges in Derek’s brow, the webbing between his fingers catching slightly on his nose, like Stiles can barely contain himself.

Since touching appears to be a thing they’re doing, Derek goes for broke and reaches out a hand to grab stiles by the waist, careful with his claws on the soft skin that gives way to scales and fins.

Stiles makes a little surprised noise and darts for Derek’s other hand, lightning fast, clutching Derek’s wrist and examining his fingers intently.

Then, very carefully, Stiles slots the bottom of his palm with the bottom of Derek’s and taps each finger to Derek’s own, their claws clicking together with a soft noise.

Derek looks at their touching palms in something akin to awe just before Stiles’ rich scent hits him and almost makes him topple over with how _good_ and _perfect_ it is.

All lemon sweetness, ocean saltiness and the slightest hint of sun warmth; all the things he has loved the scent of and actively chased after ever since he was a child.

“You,” Derek whispers, wanting to sign it so Stiles will understand but not willing to give up any of the points of contact.

Stiles beams like the sun, and it mildly feels like a thunderstorm hit Derek and suddenly he’s short of breath and drenched in Stiles’ smile. Stiles slides his fingers to the side slowly and curls them around Derek’s palm so they’re holding hands.

Derek’s eyes are captured by Stiles’ lips and he starts wondering if merfolk kiss. If it’d be okay for Derek to lean in and very carefully touch his lips to Stiles’ in the softest of things, always mindful of the fangs in his mouth and Stiles’ sharp row of teeth.

By the way Stiles is staring right back at his lips and making a low humming sound Derek would hazard a guess that _yes_ merfolk do kiss and _yes_ he could kiss Stiles right now and there would be no complaints.

Which is of course when his mother’s sharp howl pierces through the air and makes Derek startle and snap his head back towards shore where she’s standing, a respectful couple of feet away, and calling for him.

Stiles must’ve startled too because one minute he’s there and the other he’s underwater, out of sight.

“Stiles? I need to go,” he signs underwater and hopes Stiles can see it.

A hand grabs his forearm and Stiles plops back over the surface, only his eyes breaking it. He raises his hands and asks, “Meet me here tonight?”

Derek looks over his shoulder at his mom, then back at Stiles who says “I need to show you something.”

Derek looks over his back again at where his mom is patiently waiting, giving him his space and trusting him.

He bites his lip and looks over at Stiles. “I’ll try to be here.”

Stiles’ eyes crinkle at the corners and the next thing he knows Stiles is giving one hard push with his tail and breaking the surface, bumping his lips against Derek’s cheek in a barely there kiss before quickly darting back underwater and swimming away.

Derek stands there frozen for a good couple of seconds before he can make himself move and make his way back to shore, touching his cheek every now and again where Stiles’ cold lips touched his warm skin.

When he finally steps foot in dry land he has his mother smiling knowingly at him.

“Did you get yourself a summer fling, baby?” she teases, reaching over to run her hands through his hair and kiss his temple.

“I think I found my mate,” Derek says instead, earnestly, still stunned by it.

Talia pauses, seemingly stunned too, eyes quick on Derek’s face, looking for something Derek can’t figure out and then going soft around the edges, an impossible softness that makes Derek want to step forward and hug her and just bask in his mother’s warmth and approval.

“Oh baby,” she sighs out and pulls him into a hug herself. “Only you would find your mate during family vacation and of course he’d be a merman.”

“It was an accident.”

“So were your two younger siblings,” his mom tells him seriously, pulling back and booping his nose like he’s five all over again. “And let me tell you they were the happiest accidents I’ve ever had. Life is full of accidents baby, you have to enjoy the happy ones.”

Derek twists his nose. “Mom, ew.”

Talia laughs and starts sheparding him back towards where his pack is. “Come on, hurry up. You get to tell everyone what you just found out and I get to record it. Don’t tell before I get my camera, you wouldn’t want to _not_ have their reactions on your wedding slideshow.”

“Mom, we just met and he lives underwater.”

Talia waves a hand dismissively, smiling hugely and pushing Derek softly along.

Derek’s riding his _just found out I have a mate_ high too much to care about his crazy pack and their surely overdramatic reactions to the news.

«»

Derek wakes up at ten pm, after his afternoon power nap, half-shifted, with his head off the mattress.

He blinks sleepily at the upside down balcony, trying to suss out what was it that woke him up.

His ears twitch as muffled singing reaches them and Derek smiles loopily, twisting to his feet and taking the few steps needed to throw the balcony doors wide open.

“Going somewhere?” Laura calls out, peeking her head out of the bathroom.

“Stiles is-“

She holds up a hand, cutting him off. “Say no more. Go answer the booty mating call of your merboy. Howl if you need us. And be home before two am, Aunt Olivia wants to go mini-golfing with the whole family tomorrow and if you’re not there I won’t have anyone to mop the floor with.”

Derek huffs. “Sure, Laurs, keep telling yourself that,” he quips, climbing on the banister and backflipping off because he _might_ have a genetic flare for the dramatics and he might want to have the last word.

As soon as his feet hit the ground Derek realizes he has no shoes on and that’s probably a bad idea, but he’s got Stiles’ sweet voice in his ears and can’t really be bothered. He breaks into a run, straight for the beach, straight for Stiles.

_His_ Stiles. His mate. The person that somehow the universe decided he deserves and isn’t that just mindbogglingly _amazing_.

Derek still can’t quite wrap his head around the fact that he gets _this_. Gets him.

His bare toes hit the coarse sand earlier than he expects, and after that it’s almost nothing until he hits the shoreline, the sounds of waves rolling through the sand intermingling perfectly with the singing.

It’s barely anything to reach the stretch of beach he had been earlier on and just like before there is Stiles waiting on him, closer to shore than he had been before.

He splashes gracelessly into the ocean waters, meeting Stiles midway, who just kind of jumps right into him and tackles him down into the ocean waters.

Derek splutters and clawed hands tug him quickly up, so he stands above water, Stiles’ apologetic face right at eyelevel.

“Sorry,” Stiles signs.

“It’s okay.” Derek smiles helplessly, shaking his head to dispel the droplets falling on his eyes. “What did you want to show me?”

Stiles’ eyes light up.

“Do you trust me?” he asks.

Derek presses his lips together before nodding. “Yes.”

Stiles beams. “Come with me,” he signs and then holds Derek’s hand pulling him along until Derek has to rise to the tips of his toes to have his head above water. Stiles turns to him then, just looks in his eyes. And then signs, “Hold your breath.”

He nods, does a bit of heavy breathing before holding as much air in his lungs as he can manage.

The next thing he knows Stiles is pulling him underwater with an impressive amount of strength and moving supernaturally fast through the pitch black ocean waters, going deeper and farther away from the coast.

Derek feels like he should be scared, but somehow he isn’t. _Somehow_ there’s just something in him that’s saying _trust this, trust him, he wouldn’t hurt you_.

So Derek holds his breath as long as he can and trusts Stiles not to let him drown.

He doesn’t even worry when there’s almost no air in his lungs and he’s close to puff out the little bit that’s left.

Well, he’s a little worried, but he doesn’t need to be.

He doesn’t need to be because just before that happens they break the surface and Stiles holds him up, letting him take in large gulps of air as he slowly swims them to shore.

Derek sprawls on hard unforgiving floor and blinks at a natural rock ceiling that’s cut off to show a peek of the night sky.

If Derek scooted back a couple of feet and deeper into the cave they seem to have found themselves in, where the natural skylight opens up even more, he bets the view of the nightsky would be truly breathtaking.

Where he is, he can only have a peek at it.

Something lands with a soft thump by his side and Derek turns his head to see Stiles laying there, craning his neck as much he can so he can peer up at the night sky.

“This is my favorite place,” Stiles tells him. “I can’t really see the sky like this from underwater, and this is hidden enough that no landfolk will stumble upon me. Even though I can’t really see all of it without getting stuck on land.”

Derek looks up at the natural skylight and frowns. It _is_ hard to see it from here. It must be harder for Stiles who has to have at least half of his tail dipped on water and probably can’t spend that long above water.

Derek reaches over and touches Stiles’ arm to catch his attention.

“I could help,” he offers. “I could carry you over there so you could see all of it.”

Stiles makes this weird sound almost like gasping, hand flying to clutch at Derek’s arm before he nods vehemently, eyes wide like Derek just offered him the moon instead of helping him scoot up a little bit.

He gets up on his knees and very carefully slips an arm under Stiles’ arms and the other under the fold of his tail, tries not to shiver when Stiles puts his arm around his shoulder and they’re pressed all the way together.

Derek gauges where the middle of the skylight is and decides that’s a good place as any to lay Stiles down on.

He lays next to him, shoulders touching as they both look at the clear night sky full of shining stars all the way out here where the light pollution doesn’t quite reach.

They lay there. Stiles staring up at the night sky in awe and Derek staring at him, probably with the same expression.

“It’s beautiful,” Stiles signs.

Derek can’t help but let his eyes go soft in the corners, smile so stupidly and helplessly at this boy. “Yeah, you are,” he breathes out, not bothering to sign it since Stiles seems so captivated.

Stiles turns his head and looks over at him, the same awed expression on his face like he’s as beautiful as the night sky.

He smiles and reaches down to hold Derek’s hand like it’s nothing, the webbing between his fingers sliding silky smooth along the pads of Derek’s.

Stiles bumps their shoulders together, wiggles until there’s no space between them and they’re eye to eye, noses almost bumping. Derek can feel his heart speed up in his chest.

It’s effortless. As easy as breathing to reach out and touch his lips to Stiles’. There’s not even the question of who moved first because they moved at the same time, pulled together by the same invisible force that is at the core of what having a _mate_ means.

It’s not a heated kiss or anything ressembling it. Most ‘wolves Derek knows describe the first kiss with their mate as being frenzied, not being able to contain your excitement, going fast and hard.

This is nothing like that. It’s slow and careful, as chaste as it can be. Just Stiles’ naturally cold lips sliding against Derek’s naturally warmer ones, them breathing close together, eyes open, watching each other intently, irises shining so they can see in the dark.

They pull back just as slowly, unwilling to lose that point of contact.

Derek breathes out slow and steady just like everything they’ve been doing so far, feels the heat at the tips of his ears that matches the flush high on Stiles’ cheeks.

He grins helplessly, ducks his head a little when Stiles grins back.

And then he notices it.

“Stiles your teeth,” he says, drops Stiles’ hand so he can sign it because his _teeth_.

Stiles jams a finger in his mouth and makes a confused sound, his voice closer to a landfolk’s than Derek has ever heard, when he feels his perfectly rounded teeth. He makes another sound of surprise when he pulls his finger out of his mouth and holds his hand in front of him. He’s faced with soft fingers with soft nails, no webbing between them.

He wiggles them experimentally and then haphazardly sits up, looks down at his legs. Because he has them now, a set of legs and a- _okay_.

Derek looks away quickly, blushing all the way down to his chest because of course magical soulmate merfolk transformation doesn’t come with clothes.

He doesn’t know what he was expecting, really. He didn’t even know he _should_ expect this. The books said it was possible, but there are _so few_ cases, it could just as well not be real, no matter what the Disney propaganda movie from all those years ago said.

Thankfully Stiles is too distracted with the fact that he has _toes_ to really notice how Derek is blushing.

Derek decides to strip off his soaking shirt and offer it to Stiles, who blinks at him confusedly before rolling his eyes and slipping it on, pulling it down over his lap.

“Landwalkers are weird,” he signs, scrunching up his nose.

“We are pretty weird,” Derek agrees and Stiles gives him a brilliant smile, scoots forward a little bit so they’re sitting in front of each other, knees touching.

Stiles is still pressing a palm to the base of one of his feet, wiggling his toes against it like he wants to make sure they don’t go away while he’s not looking.

The other goes to Derek’s knee, calling him to attention, fingers tapping distractedly just below his shorts before he seems to remind himself and brings both hands up to sign, “Teach me how to say your name.”

Derek blinks at him, mouth dropped open because of _all the things_.

“If I can talk like you I want to be able to say your name. Teach me,” Stiles insists, looking so determined that Derek can’t help himself.

He leans forward and kisses Stiles, once on the mouth soft and sweet and once on the tip of his nose that makes him go cross eyed and scrunch it adorably.

“Okay,” he agrees, smiling like an idiot because here he is.

Here he is, in a little piece of hidden land with the boy he’s going to love for the rest of his life, the night sky above them, the ocean a few feet away rocking gently into the cave.

Here he is, staring at the boy he loves more than he can comprehend already, the boy who just went through his first shift which must’ve been a shock and here is the boy he loves asking to be taught his name so it can be the first thing he says in Derek’s tongue.

Here he is and he couldn’t be happier. Here he is, thankful that this was the destination his aunts chose for them to travel to. Here he is reconsidering his rule never to chase after pretty things during family vacation.

Here he is.

At the beginning of the rest of his life, with the boy he’s going to love forever.

**Author's Note:**

> *lays face down on the floor and mumbles* when will my mad skillz return from war


End file.
